Sunday, June 14, 2009

SLFS's Open Mic Winners: Eric Fisher & Andy Baker

A
few weeks ago the Tower Theater held another of the Open
Mic Night film festival events for local filmmakers to showcase
their work. At the end of the evening two brand new winners emerged
from the competition. Walking out with the Audience Choice award was
Eric Fisher with he horror piece “Leftovers”, while Andy Baker
and his film “On
A Street, In A Town” received the Critic's Choice award. I got a
chance to talk to both men about their films and thoughts on
filmmaking, along with pictures from both sets. ---

Eric
Fisher

click to enlarge

Gavin:
Hey Eric. First off, tell us a little bit about yourself, and how
you got into filmmaking.

Eric:
I'm a Utah native... I spend most my time in the mountains, at the U,
or thinking up weird stuff at home. I probably got my taste for film
from my grandmother and uncle. My grandmother was a
semi-professional actress in the 40's and 50's, I think, and a
writer. We'd watch a lot of movies whenever I'd visit her, and my
uncle was a pretty big film buff too. Plus, I made a lot of videos
and stop-motion animations for fun when I was younger. So I've
always been into film, but for some reason it didn't occur to me to
be serious about it until a year and a half ago. I realized the
types of media production I had been learning and working in didn't
afford me the type of creativity film would. So I'm just starting to
get into it. "Leftovers" was the first project I was in
charge of outside of the university.

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Gavin:
How are things going for you over at the U?

Eric:
Great! The film program's a lot of fun, and I've managed to fool
them into thinking I'm a decent student. I should manage to graduate
before they get wise.

Gavin:
Do you think of yourself as more of an independent filmmaker or do
you prefer to work with a group?

Eric:
Everything I've done so far have been more or less collaborative
efforts, but I see the appeal in being more independent. I
definitely will take that role in certain projects in the
future.

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Gavin:
How did the concept for “Leftovers” come about?

Eric:
We made it for the 48 Hour
Film Project. Every team had the same required elements: Dan Bridges
the roommate, a certificate, and the line "Whoa. I didn't see
that coming." Then everyone drew different genres. We got
horror. Initially I think the debate was between a zombie movie and
a slasher movie, and the compromise somehow ended up being that we
would make a movie about a girl who had murdered her
psychologist/lover, but still spoke to his severed head for advice.
The process was really fun, but very slow going. There were about 10
people with a bunch of crazy ideas, most of which got scrapped
because of the time constraints, or because our budget was about
$100, which mostly went to food, anyway. Caffeine and booze had a
small role in formulating the concept, too.

Gavin:
What was it like on set during filming? And how long did it take you
to film and then edit it up?

Eric:
Mostly really fun, sometimes really bizarre. It was surreal hanging
out in a bedroom covered in plastic wrap with our actors, one in sexy
lingerie, and the other covered in whipped cream, chocolate, and fake
blood. I hope that alone makes people want to see the movie. But
regardless of the final product, there are few better ways of having
fun and learning filmmaking than the 48 Hour deal. We were probably
shooting 13 or 14 hours. The rough cut took maybe 8 hours, I think.
I was sleeping for part of that. Then I spent a couple more tweaking
it, and scoring and mixing it the day after we handed it in to the 48
hour people. A shocking amount of time goes into short
films.

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Gavin:
Any difficulties come up along the way or was it pretty smooth
going?

Eric:
Ileana, our actress, was at an audition through the early afternoon
and didn't have her phone. We started getting nervous she wasn't
coming. I can't say it was entirely smooth going after that, but I
can't recall any major difficulties in the process. It was really
difficult to stay awake towards the end. A swig of the prop wine
seemed to wake us up a little, but in retrospect, probably made
things worse in the long run.

Gavin:
When you finished the film, was 48 Hour or Open Mic the first time you showed
it to a group? And what was the
general reaction to it at first?

Eric:
It was the first time we showed it. The reaction was very positive.
Silence when there should be, laughter when we wanted... sometimes it
was unexpected, though. Certain things we thought were really funny
only got chuckles, and some things we only chuckled at got bigger
reactions.

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Gavin:
How did you hear about Tower's Open Mic Night?

Eric:
Through Tsuyoshi Ishida,
another burgeoning young filmmaker.

Gavin:
What was your reaction to seeing it there and hearing the audience
reaction?

Eric:
Relief. I got really nervous going in.

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Gavin:
At the end you won Audience Selection award. How did it feel
knowing you had won?

Eric:
Winning it felt nice. Yes, it felt nice.

Gavin:
Going local, what’s your opinion of the local film scene, both
good and bad?

Eric:
On the plus side, there's a lot of great talent. I was particularly
blown away with the quality of work at this last Open Mic and at the
48 Hour deal. And there seems to be more and more opportunities to
showcase local films, a trend I hope continues to grow. On the down
side, where's the support?! There were at least 12 films showing at
the Open Mic, and there were loads of empty seats.

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Gavin:
Anything you think could be done to make it bigger or better?

Eric:
Beyond making bigger and
better films, self-promotion will ultimately be what drums up
competition and new audiences.

Gavin:
Any local directors you feel are at the top of their game?

Eric:
Matt Pool and Yoshi Ishida are
some great directors... fellow U students and Open Mic-ers as well.
Andrew and Troy with Toy Soup make some pretty funny stuff. And Neil
Larson makes some really nice films. But there's a lot more.

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Gavin:
Putting you on the spot, what would you say are the top films that
have had an influence on you?

Gavin:
If you had to pick one, what director would you say was most
influential on you?

Eric:
I think the Coen Brothers make consistently amazing films.

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Gavin:
Do you know what you’re doing for your next film, and what can we
expect from you going into next year?

Eric:
Chris Larsen and I are filming a short documentary in Japan this
month, and we also have a couple of shorts we'll be making throughout
the year with Yoshi. So expect a short documentary, comedy, and
maybe a drama/suspense, and hope for success and acclaim.

Gavin:
Anything you’d like to plug or any final thoughts you wanna
voice?

Gavin: Hey Andy, first
off, tell us a little bit about yourself, and how you got into
filmmaking.

Andy: I was raised on movies. I've always
loved them, but never considered pursuing filmmaking until college.
Halfway through an animation degree, I took an acting class and
decided to switch to film.

Gavin: Do you think of
yourself as more of an independent filmmaker or do you prefer to work
with a group?

Andy: I like working with a group of
friends and other filmmakers. If I could clone myself over and over,
that would be nice, although I do value collaborating minds.

Gavin:
How are things going for you at SLCC?

Andy: SLCC is
great. I'm just about to finish up there. With Channing Lowe heading
the film department, it's an excellent program. He's a great
instructor, and has really helped bring in the funding for quality
equipment and resources for the students.

click to enlarge

Gavin: How
did the concept for “On A Street, In A Town” come about?

Andy:
It just popped into my head when I was trying to think of something
to make for the five minute short film contest that Darren Aronofsky
was doing on YouTube during Sundance. Just the idea of a blind man
getting mugged and then immediately helped by the same person. I
thought it could be interesting. I didn't try to make it in time for
the contest, but kept it in mind for a future project.

Gavin:
What was it like on set during filming? And how long did it take you
to film and then edit it up?

Andy: It was fun! Bryce
Chamberlain was so awesome. He's what made this work. He was perfect!
I wanted an old man, but realized that I didn't want to actually hurt
some old person, so I was worried I wouldn't find anyone for the
part. But I found Bryce, who's in amazing shape for his age, and was
such a good sport about everything. We shot it in 3 days. It took me
about a month to edit. It ran at 12 minutes, so I had to cut it down
a bit for Open Mic Night 10 minute requirement.

click to enlarge

Gavin:
Any difficulties come up along the way or was it pretty smooth
going?

Andy: I was not originally going to play the
part of the younger character, the mugger. I had an actor and we had
done several rehearsals, but he ended up not being able to play the
part at the last minute. So I had to step in, which was okay and
probably made the whole thing more smooth because I knew the lines,
having wrote them. We also hadn't found our interior location until
about a day before shooting.

Gavin: When you finished
the film, was at Open Mic or SLCC the first time you showed it to a group? And
what was the general reaction to it at first?

Andy:
Open Mic Night was the first time it was shown to a group. I guess
the reaction was good. I was really glad to actually hear it get
quiet and tense. You could feel the audience's involvement.

Gavin:
How did you hear about Tower's Open Mic Night?

Andy: A
friend invited me to it a few years ago.

click to enlarge

Gavin: What
was your reaction to seeing it there and hearing the audience
reaction?

Andy: I was all sweaty. But it was cool to
see it with people who knew nothing about it. It's impossible for me
to see it like they do, so I'm always interested to hear how
different people interpret it.

Gavin: At the end
you won Critic’s Selection award. How did it feel knowing you had
won?

Gavin: Going local,
what’s your opinion of the local film scene, both good and
bad?

Andy: I'm not that familiar with the local film
scene. As far as student films and 24 and 48 Hour Film Festivals go,
they're usually pretty terrible. Either because they don't have the
time, the resources, or the talent to make something decent. There
are some good ones in the bunch, but not many. Not that my film is
that amazing. It's funny, the 48 Hour Film Fest was happening the
same night as Open Mic Night, and I saw lots of short films, and
noticed that about 70% of them had something to do with death. People
killing people, or committing suicide. It seems to be the most
popular theme amongst young and amateur film makers. That, or
comedy.

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Gavin: Anything you think could be done to make
it bigger or better?

Andy: Just more available
resources. I was only able to make this because of SLCC. It would
have been a lot harder and more expensive without their film program.
Then again, I'm paying for the class.

Gavin: Putting
you on the spot, what would you say are the top films that have had
an influence on you?